Sierra Health Foundation

San Joaquin Valley Health Fund Funding Awards

Our Commitment to the San Joaquin Valley

The Center awards San Joaquin Valley Health Fund grants to organizations working on policy and systems change to improve health outcomes in the nine counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare.

Since funding began in 2015, the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund has invested almost $30 million in the San Joaquin Valley. The grantee partner lists below show the funded organizations and project descriptions for each round of funding.

2023-2024 Land Use and Open Spaces Cluster Funding Program

In 2023 -2024, the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund awarded five community-based organizations $50,000 grants totaling $250,000. The Land-use and Open Spaces Round 1 funding, supports the conservation of existing or new green space in the region, improvements, and management of public lands, preservation of biodiversity, as well as reducing the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities through the effective implementation of the 30×30 Initiative and local/regional land use planning.

  • Alianza Ecologists | Tulare County “Día de Campo” Public Lands Access Project. Provide equitable access to public lands and nature spaces to farmworkers and vulnerable communities in Tulare County.

  • California Pesticide Reform | Improving Equitable Access to the Outdoors for EJ Communities Overburdened by Pesticide & Fertilizer Pollution . Provides improvement and protection of outdoor spaces in environmentally impacted communities of Fresno, Kern, Stanislaus, and Tulare.

  • Central California Environmental Justice Network | Increases access to open spaces that are free from wildfires and oil pollution in Fresno, Kern and Madera Counties so that farmworkers and residents of disadvantaged communities are safe from smoke, oil pollution and enjoy more open spaces.

  • Madera Coalition for Community Justice | Madera Land Use & Planning Stewardship (MLUPS). Increases open green spaces and improves facilities in existing parks in the city of Madera.

  • Tuolumne River Preservation Trust | Modesto Park Equity Program. Develops and advocates for community park solutions in underserved neighborhoods in Modesto, in partnership with youth leaders.

2022-2023 Funding Awards

Advocacy Grants

The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund awarded grants up to $20,000 to support 21 community organizations in their advocacy for specific non-lobbying policy or systems change that will advance the IHHEEL Policy Platform. Learn about the funded work below.

  • Asian Pacific Self-Development and Residential Association is building the capacity of families facing the impacts of attacks against immigrants by meeting their needs for resources while developing them as grassroots movement leaders.
  • California Coalition for Rural Housing Project is increasing the participation of network advocacy partners to engage in statewide convenings and hearings to further support systemic policy changes to address the increasing housing crisis.
  • Catholic Charities of Stockton is increasing health care access through Medi-Cal expansion among Hispanics 50 years and older in disadvantaged communities through outreach, education and promotion among community partners.
  • Central California Environmental Justice Network is promoting health equity and community resilience of farmworkers and other residents of disadvantaged communities in Madera, Fresno and Kern counties who are more vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change, air pollution and pesticides.
  • Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative is promoting the Regional Immigrant Integration and Capacity Building Initiative to support ongoing work with immigrant-serving organizations and public and private sector entities.
  • Central Valley Partnership is advocating for a re-imagined regional landscape through the promotion of community ownership models, including community land trusts, and equitable planning policies that address historic injustices.
  • Children Now is connecting and engaging groups to weigh in on critical policy advocacy opportunities, including efforts to make Medi-Cal more accessible and easier to navigate, implementation of new benefits, and investments in mental health for children and youth.
  • CRLA Foundation is addressing health inequities by working to protect and expand the San Joaquin Valley’s healthcare gains, and to improve access to county healthcare programs for uninsured people not covered by Covered California or expanded Medi-Cal.
  • Dolores Huerta Foundation is equipping parents with strategies to advocate for improved policies and practices that result in increased participation in school meals at Arvin Union (Kern County) and Parlier Unified (Fresno County) schools districts.
  • Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice is bringing about systemic changes in government policies and practices to address health disparities, cumulative impacts, drinking water quality, civil rights violations and denial of meaningful civic engagement opportunities.
  • Haven Women’s Center of Stanislaus is implementing the Healthy and Responsible Relationships Troop youth leadership and adolescent relationship abuse prevention program at four high schools to reduce health risks and negative educational outcomes associated with abusive relationships.
  • Hlub Hmong Center is supporting the Hmong Education Partnership, which develops and works toward an agenda for policy and systems change in partnership with public schools, to create conditions that advance the academic success of all Hmong students.
  • Immigrant Legal Resource Center is strengthening the capacity of legal organizations to provide high-quality services and training, access to legal resources and timely updates about immigration policy, services and convenings to advance immigrant integration.
  • Jakara Movement is generating youth support and civic engagement around issues that have major health implications in San Joaquin, Merced and Fresno counties, including education and the digital divide.
  • Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability is advancing environmental justice policies and climate resilience in unincorporated Tulare County communities to build on Matheny Tract’s Transformative Climate Communities Planning efforts and secure an implementation grant.
  • Madera Coalition for Community Justice is engaging local residents, environmental and civic groups, networks and coalitions to participate in the Measure T Renewal process to ensure equitable allocation and distribution of investments.
  • Pesticide Action Network North America Regional Center is promoting policy changes that address the systemic racial and health inequities of California’s system of agriculture by building grassroots momentum and local leadership, with a goal of reducing exposure to pesticides, promoting sustainable alternatives and establishing the right to know.
  • Radio Bilingue, Inc. is promoting policy changes that address the systemic racial and health inequities of California’s system of agriculture by building grassroots momentum and local leadership, with a goal of reducing exposure to pesticides, promoting sustainable alternatives and establishing the right to know.
  • Sequoia Riverlands Trust is expanding access to outdoor education opportunities in underserved communities by advocating for the creation of new outdoor education programs, and providing communities and students with resources to create these programs themselves.
  • The Source LGBT+ Center is improving health equity and outcomes for the LGBTQ+ community through youth education, advocacy and leadership and systems change.
  • Utility Reform Network is addressing racial disparities in San Joaquin Valley broadband access by providing technical assistance and leadership development to organizations.

2022-2023 Funding Awards

Learning Grants

The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund awarded grants up to $10,000 to support eight community organizations in their advocacy for specific non-lobbying policy or systems change that will advance the IHHEEL Policy Platform. Learn about the funded work below.

  • Central Valley Air Quality Coalition is developing strategies for climate resilience and justice through the state’s Scoping Plan update and by organizing around dangerous solutions like carbon capture and storage.
  • Community Partnership Alliance is addressing food insecurity in Merced County.
  • Fresno Barrios Unidos is bringing awareness to inequities and advocating for the communities’ right to food sovereignty and economic justice.
  • Fresno Freedom School Inc. is informing the public about issues facing Black farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and giving them the tools and resources to address the issues going forward.
  • Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries is advocating for the implementation of community-designed safety and public spaces through listening sessions, forums and community organizing in the Southeast Asian community in Fresno, Merced and the North Valley.
  • Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network is advancing local sanctuary policies and developing federal pro-immigrant congressional champions in the Central Valley through community-driven policy advocacy.
  • Root & Rebound is supporting formerly incarcerated people, their loved ones and advocates from rural communities to make changes in educational, housing and other policies that will help them thrive as newly returned residents.
  • Stanislaus Multi-Cultural Community Health Coalition West Modesto/King is addressing structural barriers to healthy communities by empowering community residents.

2021-2023 Funding Awards

Drinking Water Cluster Grants

The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund expanded the $2.2 million SJVHF Drinking Water Cluster to include eight new partner organizations that join the three anchor organizations initially funded in 2020. The SJVHF Drinking Water Cluster cohort members’ funded work is described below.

  • Community Water Center is increasing access to safe drinking water in vulnerable San Joaquin Valley communities through effective implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund (SB 200), and supporting community mobilization to build power and advance health and racial equity, in addition to providing leadership, support and technical assistance to the other SJVHF Drinking Water Cluster cohort partners.
  • Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability is ensuring equitable implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to protect vulnerable communities from disproportionate negative impacts, and equitable implementation of SB 200 with the goal of protecting the neediest communities, and advancing health and racial equity and build community power, in addition to providing leadership, support and technical assistance to the other SJVHF Drinking Water Cluster cohort partners.
  • Self-Help Enterprises is continuing San Joaquin Valley community engagement and advocacy around the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, SB 200, and other regional efforts to ensure disadvantaged communities are included in planning and decision-making processes, and to protect them from disproportionate negative impacts, and building community power through leadership development and educational opportunities, in addition to providing leadership, support and technical assistance to the other SJVHF Drinking Water Cluster cohort partners.
  • Central California Environmental Justice Network is providing accessible information on local water sources, water quality, sources of water contamination, mitigation measures, as well as the importance of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and opportunities to advocate for better protections of the drinking water supply through popular education, and supporting residents to participate in meetings and advocacy campaigns around safe and affordable drinking water access.
  • Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment is building the capacity of low-income BIPOC communities to engage in and influence land use planning and infrastructure investment processes to address drinking water contamination, and building the power of five Kern County community groups to connect them to the Ground Water Sustainability Plan process to advocate for the protection of groundwater for drinking.
  • Dolores Huerta Foundation is engaging in the redistricting process to impact representation on water boards by empowering the community to advocate and lead on these issues and to examine existing water policies (statewide and local) to determine opportunities for improvement and change.
  • Madera Coalition for Community Justice is increasing knowledge and understanding of the local sustainable water management plan, process and programs through direct community engagement in public hearings, workshops and political process to effect positive and sustainable groundwater management and safe drinking water access in and around Madera.
  • AGUA Coalition is expanding and building capacity to effectively advocate and inform policy and practice around safe, affordable drinking water access, supporting opportunities to ensure resources are deployed to vulnerable communities that address short and long-term drinking water needs and solutions, and advocating within regulatory processes for polluter accountability, protection of groundwater, and coordinated drought resources for groundwater-dependent vulnerable communities.
  • United Lanare is strengthening resident engagement in advocacy around groundwater and drinking water, as well as continuing to build community power and capacity.
  • Cantua Creek and El Porvenir is strengthening engagement in advocacy around groundwater and drinking water, as well as continuing to build community power and capacity.
  • Fairmead Community & Friends is reaching and educating more Fairmead residents and deepening their engagement on drinking water issues and policy opportunities, and continuing to empower residents to do more to ensure a healthy community.

COVID-19 Farmworker Resiliency Grants

The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund awarded three two-year grants of $300,000 each to support COVID-19 Farmworker Resiliency.

  • California Coalition for Rural Housing Project is partnering with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability to develop a toolkit to expand and simplify access to income and safety net resources and services for farmworkers, regardless of documentation status. The tool kit’s primary focus is to support communities to prioritize affordable, safe housing for farmworker communities.
  • California Institute for Rural Studies is partnering with California Food and Farming Network, Central California Environmental Justice Network and Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indigena Oaxaqueño to develop and couple data-informed tools for action with grassroots organizing, policy advocacy and work to ensure state agencies are accountable to the farmworkers they are supposed to serve.
  • Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indigena Oaxaqueño is partnering with Central California Environmental Justice Network to create a grassroots network of empowered farmworkers that will have the knowledge and skills to navigate state agencies, develop relationships with those agencies to hold them accountable and propose new ideas for programs and policies that could more effectively serve farmworkers.

2021-2022 Funding Awards

San Joaquin Valley Immigrant Rights and Protection Cluster

The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund supplemented and extended the immigrant rights and protections grants of 15 partner organizations and also funded an immigration legal services mapping project that will help inform policy and support San Joaquin Valley immigrant communities and immigrant-serving organizations.

  • Asian Pacific Self Development and Residential Association to build capacity of families facing the worst impacts of attacks against immigrants by meeting their needs for resources while developing them as grassroots movement leaders.
  • California Human Development to provide Know Your Rights information, provide immigration and citizenship services, and connect the immigrant community with resources related to health, education, housing, employment and other needs.
  • California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance (CIYJA) to better equip CIYJA’s Kern County youth base in disrupting the deportation pipeline that adversely affects immigrants.
  • California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) to provide direct immigration services, help households understand the highly complex public charge rules, foster leadership development, and build/strengthen capacity of San Joaquin Valley immigrant-supporting organizations.
  • Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative (CVIIC) to empower Latino immigrant families and immigrant-serving organizations by building the capacity of San Joaquin Valley immigrant-supporting organizations, delivering immigration services and community education in rural and urban communities, and advancing the SJVHF Policy Platform’s Immigration pathway.
  • Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño to provide outreach and education to Indigenous families, including Know Your Rights information, DACA support services, and referrals in Fresno and Madera.
  • Centro La Familia Advocacy Services, Inc. to expand its capacity to respond to the needs of non-citizen immigrant victims in immediate need of protection through U-Visa applications and to advocate for the rights of non-citizen immigrants.
  • The Council for American Islamic Relations to build capacity of immigrant-serving organizations through expansion of a partner network providing health and social services to refugee and immigrant populations, supporting local coalitions, providing increased Know Your Rights trainings, and strengthening capacity for policy advocacy.
  • Education and Leadership Foundation (ELF) to build capacity of ELF members (i.e., college students, graduates, professionals) through 50 hours of training and professional development around immigration policy, community resources and advocacy needs, and to inform immigrants about Know Your Rights, immigration support services, public charge, and programs related to health care, education and healthy communities.
  • The Fresno Center to increase immigrant access to support services, legal representation, and education and civic participation opportunities through partnerships around education, inclusion and support, and by providing immigration services related to citizenship preparation and naturalization.
  • Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) to support and build capacity of legal service organizations to better serve immigrant residents in a rapidly changing and increasingly challenging federal context through webinars, discussions and monthly e-mail alerts.
  • Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) to support mapping of immigration legal services in the San Joaquin Valley region by assessing current capacity and identifying the needs and gaps in the existing landscape of services to inform policy and public and philanthropic budgetary considerations.
  • Jakara Movement to empower Punjabi youth leaders to connect civic integration with civic engagement and base-building, partner with other agencies, encourage naturalization to citizenship, and increase civic integration including voter registration and civic engagement among Punjabi immigrants.
  • Kids in Need of Defense, Inc. (KIND) to provide free legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children in the San Joaquin Valley who are in deportation (removal) proceedings before the immigration court by supporting a staff attorney and a social services coordinator in KIND’s Fresno satellite office to provide direct legal representation, mentor pro bono attorneys, engage in community outreach with impacted kids and families, coordinate and inform KIND’s national and state-level policy team, and connect children to social services in the community.
  • Little Manila Rising to increase community awareness and engagement around immigrant rights and protections in South Stockton by educating and training youth and adult community residents to engage in outreach within formal and informal networks for culturally relevant youth-led Know Your Rights workshops.
  • Radio Bilingüe, Inc. to inform and empower San Joaquin Valley Latino and indigenous immigrants now facing staggering challenges related to COVID-19, economic crises and harmful policies impacting immigrant families’ rights, safety, health and well-being by producing / broadcasting in Spanish and Mixteco educational and civic engagement programming covering critical Know Your Rights and protections topics around access to health care, immigration assistance, food security, job and financial assistance, and policy updates.

Wildfire Resiliency Grants

The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund awarded four one-year grants of $100,000 each to support wildfire resiliency.

  • Central California Asthma Collaborative to create culturally appropriate educational materials about the health impacts of wildfire-related smoke and ways families can mitigate exposure and impacts, especially for individuals with asthma.
  • Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN) (Fiscal Sponsor: Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs) to focus on building the resilience of farmworkers to the effects of wildfires by designing and implementing a culturally appropriate education campaign and by distributing appropriate protective equipment (N95 masks).
  • Central Valley Air Quality Coalition (CVAQ) (Fiscal Sponsor: Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs) to inform impacted populations on the health impacts of wildfire smoke, provide tips and resources on immediate protections, and create dialogue between the public and decision makers on health impacts as well as evidence-based practices for reducing wildfires and for providing culturally appropriate, timely notifications of unhealthy air.
  • The Fresno Center to increase the resiliency of wildfire-affected communities, particularly rural migrant farmworkers and Hmong and Southeast Asian communities in the San Joaquin Valley, toward wildfires and related health risks through emergency preparedness information and related health education and outreach to 3,000 rural migrant farmworkers and/or Hmong and Southeast Asian community members.

IHHEEL (Immigration, Health, Housing, Education, Environmental Justice, Land Use and Planning) Advocacy and COVID-19 Recovery and Resiliency Advocacy

The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund awarded 47 San Joaquin Valley community-based organizations grants up to $50,000 to advance policy and systems change work in support of the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund’s Policy Platform (20 awardees) and to support COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience across the region (27 awardees). With more than $2 million in funding awarded, these community partners will support a wide range of advocacy activities in areas as distinct as immigrant rights, housing justice, school food access, equitable land use policy, community-informed local redistricting efforts and environmental justice. Regardless of their projects, all of the community partners are committed to the goal of advancing health and racial equity across the San Joaquin Valley in partnership with impacted residents.

Learn more about the funded IHEEL projects (.pdf).

2020-2021 Funding Awards

San Joaquin Valley Health Fund COVID-19 Response Cluster

Learn about funded organizations and projects on the Donate4SJV web page.

Previous Funding Awards